Reach Out to the Next Generation | by Matt Ondrejko

On March 30, I had the pleasure of speaking to an International Marketing class at the University of Nebraska Omaha. I was invited to share my global marketing experiences and career path with a class of about 50 students.

It was exciting for me to provide some insight to these juniors and seniors as they are getting close to starting a career and putting their knowledge to work in the real world. I thought back to my own experiences in college and remembered how important it was to have access to and interaction with people who had real jobs, while learning about the paths they followed.

Matt Ondrejko speaking at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

I told the students about my personal journey and pursuit from a young age to find a job that would allow me to travel the world and experience different cultures and people. I explained that I was one of only a few people that I knew who walked into college knowing what degree I wanted and actually stuck with my plan through the whole course of my education.

Once I graduated though, I knew what I wanted to do and had a piece of paper that said I had skills, but I didn’t know what path to start down to get me there. This is where many of the students I met are today.

I feel it is very important to present options and clarity to students about what is out there in the real world. What does it mean to be in marketing, finance, sales or engineering?

The amazing thing about our diverse world is that we likely wear all these hats at some point in our positions or careers (regardless of the piece of paper you received from a university). By exposing these students to what international marketing means to me and to the different positions within the Valley marketing department, I am helping them understand how one company – our company – operates and drives business.

I encourage you all to connect with students you may know, or volunteer to help them understand the different paths that exist and open their eyes to different possibilities.

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Matt Ondrejko VP Global Marketing The one word that can sum up Matt is "enthusiasm!" He likes to be on-the-go and have fun along the way. Matt loves music and the 1980s era. He is a child of the MTV generation and has a deep appreciation of all music genres (specifically, he is a huge Dave Matthews Band groupie). Matt has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world and enjoys learning about different cultures and people. He spent three years living with his family in Leuven, Belgium, trying to enjoy as many of the 700+ beers they brew there.

Visiting Our Growers | by Matt Ondrejko

One of the great things about my job is having the opportunity to spend time with our Valley_® dealers and growers talking about products, business and their general outlook on things. 

In early February, I was fortunate enough to be invited down to southwest Indiana to spend time with Scates Valley Irrigation. The Scates team services growers in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, and boy does the team do a great job. 

Scates Valley Open House

I spent one day visiting large growers from the Scates territory, all farming 10,000 acres or more. It was awesome to hear firsthand how Valley products have made a difference in their operations for many years and often generations. The area is a hotbed for irrigation, and the growers certainly know the power of getting water efficiently and effectively to the crops. This area tends to be heavy in soybeans and corn and has very sandy soils due to its proximity to the Wabash River.

The really interesting thing for me was the amount of farms using remote management products such as Valley BaseStation™ and AgSense^® Field Commanders^®. Even though most of the center pivots are in relatively close proximity to each other, on average a 5- to 10-mile radius, the benefits of using these products are too valuable to ignore. One grower told me that he was able to eliminate putting 200 miles per week on each of his trucks because he didn’t have to physically go to every machine, every day. Instead of driving out to every machine every day, he could plan his day and week in a more methodical way. While the upfront cost of these products is a large investment, the payoff is swift, and the tangible benefits are quickly realized.

The acceleration of technology and its benefits continue to seep in to farming. Whether it is remote monitoring solutions for irrigation, soil moisture monitoring or bin management, technology makes farming more efficient and creates true economic benefit for these growers.

Scates Valley Irrigation hosted an Open House while I was visiting that attracted more than 100 local farmers interested in learning about these technologies and discussing “what’s new” in the industry. The sophistication of growers continues to evolve, and finding solutions to their needs is what keeps me up at night. What a great trip!

Scates Valley Open House

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Matt Ondrejko VP Global Marketing The one word that can sum up Matt is "enthusiasm!" He likes to be on-the-go and have fun along the way. Matt loves music and the 1980s era. He is a child of the MTV generation and has a deep appreciation of all music genres (specifically, he is a huge Dave Matthews Band groupie). Matt has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world and enjoys learning about different cultures and people. He spent three years living with his family in Leuven, Belgium, trying to enjoy as many of the 700+ beers they brew there.

Embrace Technology - It's Driving Agriculture | by Matt Ondrejko

Being responsible for Global Marketing provides me some great opportunities to travel the world and meet people from all over.

Last week I happened to be in Brazil at the annual Valley_® Brazilian dealer meeting. I was in the presence of several hundred dealers that bleed Valley blue - it is a good place to be.

During the meeting, I had the honor of listening to a local Brazilian speaker Silvana Goulart, who was brought in to discuss the importance of working to create prospective sales and customers through various means. One thing that struck me was her passionate plea to the Brazilian dealers to understand times are changing. The customer is changing, the way they run their businesses is changing, the way the dealer does business is changing – and it is all being driven by technology!

Matt Ondrejko and Silvana Goulart

The younger generation of farmers – inheriting the business from their parents, or buying into a farm – want to do things simpler, faster and more effectively. They want technology to help them drive decisions, increase their quality of life, allow them more family time. Oh yes, and make them more money!

This is the message being communicated in Brazil today; it is the same message and same trend being seen around the world. Sure the rate of technological adoption is different from country to country, but the simple fact is that technology is influencing the way we do business at an accelerated rate. It is changing our expectations, our perceptions and the amount of time we are willing to wait for action and results.

If we do not recognize and adopt technology to our benefit, we will lose and our competition will pass us by. This is true for any business or any walk of life. People who embrace and use technology will accelerate and succeed.

Thank you Ms. Goulart for driving home a message that is considerably important to the success of all us.

Embrace technology, use it to your benefit, help your customer use it – I promise it will reward you.

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Matt Ondrejko VP Global Marketing The one word that can sum up Matt is "enthusiasm!" He likes to be on-the-go and have fun along the way. Matt loves music and the 1980s era. He is a child of the MTV generation and has a deep appreciation of all music genres (specifically, he is a huge Dave Matthews Band groupie). Matt has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world and enjoys learning about different cultures and people. He spent three years living with his family in Leuven, Belgium, trying to enjoy as many of the 700+ beers they brew there.

Valley Values – Advanced | by Matt Ondrejko

Advanced Technology is all the rage these days and is a key buzzword in every company’s marketing arsenal. To be honest, we often use it here at Valley® as well. In fact, Advanced is one of our five Valley Values – along with Reliable, Durable, Precise and Responsive. But, I think it is important to take a step back and really discuss what Advanced Technology means to growers.

At Valley, we approach technology as a means to make the user or the product more efficient, durable, or productive, not just in terms of megabytes and apps, but on the steel and rubber as well.

Advanced Technology is something every engineer and product manager incorporates into the new designs and ideas we test and develop. We look for the latest and greatest ways to make and coat steel, reduce flat tires, and remotely communicate with the pivot. This technology is meant to bring a better quality of life to our customers by reducing downtime and maximizing up time, so more personal time can be spent doing the things they really want to do.

Often technology is pushed on the consumer as a must have or a way to make things easier, with the company offering it not really understanding how the product will be used.

At Valley, we work hand in hand with our growers and dealers testing and evaluating what they like and what really makes them more efficient. We deliver technology, but on their terms, aimed at their needs and desires.

Technology is constantly changing and evolving. At Valley, we are leading the way, advancing the pivot and the way the world irrigates.

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Matt Ondrejko VP Global Marketing The one word that can sum up Matt is "enthusiasm!" He likes to be on-the-go and have fun along the way. Matt loves music and the 1980s era. He is a child of the MTV generation and has a deep appreciation of all music genres (specifically, he is a huge Dave Matthews Band groupie). Matt has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world and enjoys learning about different cultures and people. He spent three years living with his family in Leuven, Belgium, trying to enjoy as many of the 700+ beers they brew there.

Valley Values – Responsive | by Matt Ondrejko

In prior posts, I have discussed three of the five pillars of what we call “Valley_® Values.” Those three pillars; Reliable, Durable and Precise, are the backbone of what has made Valley the leader in precision irrigation and the best in the world. But today’s pillar – Responsive – is something that growers have come to associate with the Valley brand promise – something that comes with owning the world’s best irrigation equipment.

I could explain all the ways in which Valley equipment, our manufacturing process, and our technology are Responsive to evolving needs of growers and the demands of today’s changing world. Instead, I will focus on what truly sets us above the competition globally, our Valley dealer network.

Your Valley dealer is the one who is most Responsive to your needs, demands and urgent requests. Your Valley dealer is the one who can service a down pivot on a moment’s notice, or help you load your VRI prescription with ease and confidence. Your Valley dealer is the person beside you in the field during a drought or after a storm has caused damage, developing a plan to get your operation working as soon as possible. Your success is his success and vice versa.

We, at Valley, select and appoint our dealers with the utmost care and attention. They must be the best at what they do, they must be willing to do whatever it takes to keep you up and running, and they must bleed Valley blue! Valley dealers represent the true meaning of Responsive. We are as lucky as you to have a team of dealers that make us all successful!

The Valley dealer network = Responsive!

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Matt Ondrejko VP Global Marketing The one word that can sum up Matt is "enthusiasm!" He likes to be on-the-go and have fun along the way. Matt loves music and the 1980s era. He is a child of the MTV generation and has a deep appreciation of all music genres (specifically, he is a huge Dave Matthews Band groupie). Matt has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world and enjoys learning about different cultures and people. He spent three years living with his family in Leuven, Belgium, trying to enjoy as many of the 700+ beers they brew there.

Valley Values – Precision | by Matt Ondrejko

The Valley_® brand tag line is “The Leader in Precision Irrigation.” 

Valley VRI Zone Control can divide a field
into more than 5,000 management zones

This statement was not arbitrarily chosen or one that simply sounded good to us. On the contrary, it encompasses the approach we take on every product we build, every solution we engineer, and every application we develop for our customers.  

We – here at Valley – pride ourselves on the reliability and durability we build into every product that we engineer and manufacture, and that is a direct function of the strict quality standards we hold ourselves to. The precision in our manufacturing processes result in products that are efficiently and correctly built time and time again, assuring our customers of the Valley quality they have come to expect over the last 60 years.  

Our engineered solutions, such as Variable Rate Irrigation, water application, and BaseStation3™, provide our growers with precise water application and remote management when and where they need it.  

Precision is ingrained in our way of life at Valley.  

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Matt Ondrejko VP Global Marketing The one word that can sum up Matt is "enthusiasm!" He likes to be on-the-go and have fun along the way. Matt loves music and the 1980s era. He is a child of the MTV generation and has a deep appreciation of all music genres (specifically, he is a huge Dave Matthews Band groupie). Matt has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world and enjoys learning about different cultures and people. He spent three years living with his family in Leuven, Belgium, trying to enjoy as many of the 700+ beers they brew there.

Happy Arbor Day from Valley Irrigation!

Tomorrow, we celebrate Arbor Day, the holiday about planting trees! Arbor Day was first observed in Nebraska in the 1880s. For more history and fun facts about Arbor Day, visit www.ArborDay.org.

We're celebrating Arbor Day by sharing with YOU our most cherished "tree" memories!

	My first year of being married, my wife insisted we cut down our own Christmas tree. I had never done this as a kid, as we always bought one pre-cut at the lot. So we cut down this tree, bring it home, and put it up. It is the shortest, fattest tree ever – a total disaster (maybe a miscalculation on my part). In addition to that, for one month straight, it made this weird "clicking" sound at night and freaked us out. We kept thinking something was alive in it. So, next year, I bought an artificial tree and let the real ones continue to grow in the wild! - Matt Ondrejko, VP Global Marketing
	As I find myself more and more becoming that grouchy old man who yells at the neighborhood kids to “Keep off my lawn, dagnabbit!”, I occasionally find my memory taking me back in time to when I was in their shoes. I hope all of you have many happy memories from childhood; it isn’t that they get you through life, but they can be little “sweet spots” during the day when they come to mind. This Arbor Day, perhaps you, too, remember a favorite tree or woodland. For me, two trees come to mind. One is the white birch tree at my grandparents’ farm. We climbed it often, and the curling white bark was kind of wondrous to me. I still associate that tree with many fond memories of that place and those times. The other was a large pin oak growing in a vacant lot near my house in my home town. It, too, was a “climber”; not just for me but for the entire neighborhood. It naturally became a competition to see who could (and would) climb to the highest spot before your nerve failed. For an eight-year-old kid, it seemed that you could see clear into the neighboring state from up there. Of course, it also taught the importance of keeping a grip—sometimes, the “hard way”! - Kelly Downing, Global Irrigation Specialist
	I personally would not call myself a green thumb, but I do very much like my plants, and of course, my trees. Having only recently moved into a home that actually has its own yard (but no trees), my husband and I have proceeded to invest in some trees to spruce up the lot. Since we really, really like our trees, we have also proceeded to name each one, so now we have our two apple trees, Ohayo and Gozaimasu (think “Good Morning” in Japanese), a plum tree named Woody, and our lilac tree, Lilia.  However, my prides and joys (can a tree owner play favorites? Is that totally unfair?) are Valentine and Sally, my lemon and Satsuma (like a mandarin orange) trees. Valentine was my very first tree, purchased 6 years ago (on Valentine’s day, thus the name) during World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA. Since this show is in February every year, and I live in Nebraska, I had to protect Valentine when I got off the plane in snowy, cold Omaha by carrying him under my coat. Like a proud parent, I couldn't believe my eyes when, within the first year, little Valentine produced a lemon, which was quite tasty, I might add. Since then, Valentine has grown to be as tall as me, but has failed to produce another lemon. Sometime I get sad, sometimes frustrated, but I continue to fertilize and trim Valentine back in the hopes that next year, he will bloom and shower me with a windfall of lemons. Now, Sally, on the other hand, is producing Satsumas like crazy – three are growing right now, and there are 10 more buds that have recently turned into fruit. So while I will continue to love and tend to Valentine, I will be able to bask in the sweet fruit that Sally has produced…someday…if the fruit ever ripen!  So now, if anyone has any wise advice on how to make Valentine bloom and produce lemons, I am all ears! - Michelle Stolte, Global Marketing Manager
	I will never forget Christmas 1995, the setting for my tree tale. Like many girls my age that holiday season, Santa gave me a Kitty Surprise! For those of you unfamiliar with this toy, or have blocked it from your memory, Kitty Surprise! was a stuffed cat toy that had a hollow stomach held together by a piece of Velcro. Obviously, the "Kitty" in Kitty Surprise! is the plush cat I just mentioned, but the "Surprise" was the kittens that came in the cat's stomach...that's right. I was a very lucky girl - my cat came with 5 kittens, which was the most that could come with the toy (though, I later found out that it was all a scam, as my 3 friends who all received Puppy Surprise! also had 5 babies in the weird, hollow stomach of their toys).   My Aunt Susan found this toy to be both hilarious and awful. So, when I wasn't looking, she "catnapped" Kitty Surprise! and all of her kittens. Kitty Surprise! made it out safely, but the kittens...well, my Aunt Susan hid them in our Christmas tree. I looked around my house for hours until I found the kittens hanging on for dear life in the Christmas tree, which was dangerously leaning to one side, thanks to our cat (a real cat) Jasmine using it as a hiding spot...and Jasmine wasn't a small cat, by any means. - Kelly Cox, Global Digital Marketing Manager

Do you have a memory of a tree you'd like to share? We'd like to hear it! Click on the Comments box below to share your story. Happy Arbor Day, everyone!

Introducing the Valley Irrigation Bloggers!

With a new name and a new look, the Growing the Conversation blog also has some new voices! We want to take this opportunity to give you a face to put with the writing.

Valley Irrigation Global Marketing Department

		Matt Ondrejko Vice President Global Marketing Matt is the newest addition to the Valley Irrigation Global Marketing Department. The one word that can sum up Matt is "enthusiasm"! He likes to be on-the-go and have fun along the way. Matt loves music and the 1980s era. He is a child of the MTV generation and has a deep appreciation of all music genres (specifically, he is a huge Dave Matthews Band groupie). Matt has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world and enjoys learning about different cultures and people. He spent three years living with his family in Leuven, Belgium, trying to enjoy as many of the 700+ beers they brew there.
		Michelle Stolte  Global Marketing Manager Michelle has been at Valley Irrigation for over 10 years and is finally no longer a newbie! She has spent her entire time at Valley in the Marketing Department (international and domestic) and loves every minute of it. Michelle enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband. She also likes reading, swing dancing (although she isn't really that good...), and warm weather, so she is excited it is finally Spring!
		Kelly Cox  Global Digital Marketing Manager Kelly joined the Valley Irrigation Global Marketing Department in 2008. Her love of all things geek (steampunk furniture, anime, Doctor Who, and science fiction/fantasy literature, just to name a few) helped shape her appreciation for technology and the web. Kelly is a newlywed and new homeowner, where she shares her geekery with her husband and cat Kiba. She considers herself a wine connoisseur (though, 3 buck Chuck is delicious!) and has a love of painting, dance, and singing.
		Jill Zwiener  Global Marketing Communications Administrator Jill joined the Valley Irrigation team in 2011. She loves country music, fountain soda, food, college football, and the ski slopes of Colorado. She enjoys using photography to freeze the precious bits of time with her family into pictures that she can cherish for years.
		Cindy Barry  Co-op/Database Administrator Cindy has been with Valley Irrigation for over six years. In her spare time, Cindy loves to read, travel, luxury camp (ie: with bed, TV, and AC...) and, most of all, take care of her one-year-old grandson! And, she would like everyone to know that she is totally bribable with chocolate!
		Brooke Stover Global Marketing Assistant Brooke has been with the Valley Irrigation Global Marketing department since 2011. She spends her free time taking pottery classes; though she thoroughly enjoys this, most of her stuff is a bit lopsided. Brooke also loves to read and listen to Frank Sinatra. She enjoys traveling and has been to 11 countries with the goal to make it to six more in the next six years!

Other Contributing Authors

	Kelly Downing Global Irrigation Specialist Kelly, Nebraska-based Irrigation Specialist, spent 10 years working on soil and water research projects for a major agricultural university, involving a variety of crops. His work focused on irrigation management, but also included other topics. Since joining Valley Irrigation, he has worked in the fields of Service, Product Management, Product Reliability and Sales. Kelly focuses on developing projects in irrigation field management and providing recommendations for the Circles for Rice project. Kelly has traveled to several countries providing technical support, such as soil moisture monitoring and irrigation management training.
	Cole Fredrick Product Manager - Variable Rate Irrigation Cole has been with Valley Irrigation since 2011, where he manages the Valley Variable Rate Irrigation products. He was born and raised on a farm near Grand Island, NE (AKA "paradise"), and he tries to return back home as often as possible. Cole is a HUGE Husker fanatic! He stays young by enjoying all outdoor activities and almost any sport.
	John Kastl Product Manager - Equipment John joined the Valley Irrigation Engineering Department in 2000 after having spent 11 years at General Electric Aircraft Engines. Today, he manages the equipment products for Valley (center pivots, corners, and gearbox, to name a few), helping develop the next generation of Valley Irrigation machines. John enjoys photography, home renovation, and travel. On his third birthday, John watched the first moon landing!

We'll introduce other contributing authors as they jump on. But, now we want to hear from YOU! What topics do you want to read about? Is there a particular Valley product or technology you've been wanting to know more about? Don't be shy - click on the Comments box below to post your question or feedback!